1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and composition for the preservation of roasted and ground coffee.
2. Description of the Related Art
Several methods and compositions for the preservation of roasted and ground coffee have been implemented in the past. None of them, however, includes a specifically scaled proportion of cocoa butter, vegetable oils, and sugar that encapsulates the roasted ground coffee and thus conserves the aroma and flavor of the coffee.
The present invention refers to a manufacturing method for the production of a new food ingredient, from now on called “coffee liquor” (which may also be called “coffee mass”). This ingredient is able to preserve the sensory and aromatic properties of the R&G (Roasted & Ground) coffee for extensive period of time. Moreover, this invention also refers to the utilization of the said coffee liquor as an ingredient for the use of the R&G coffee in the formulation of edible, composite coffee bars in solid form.
The herein proposed method has the objective of preserving the organoleptical properties of the R&G coffee, through the preparation of coffee liquor and its utilization in the manufacturing of edible solid coffee bars. The coffee liquor is prepared through the encapsulation of finely milled R&G coffee with vegetable fat and/or cocoa butter, with the objective to confer the physical insulation of the coffee's micro-particles from the atmospheric air, thus preventing that oxidative action happens to its aromatic and sensory components through means of their exposure and chemical reaction with the oxygen present in the atmospheric air.
The method of this present invention was developed to render food-based coffee bars in solid form from coffee liquor, which then allows the food consumption of solid form R&G coffee beans in its entirely, either pure or composite, i.e., in combination with other food ingredients which are indicated as part of the formulation, such as: milk derivatives, cocoa powder, starches, maltodextrins, malt extracts, sugars, natural or artificial sweeteners, vitamins and mineral salts, among others.
The classical chocolate manufacturing method and the main equipment to accomplish the task are both of public knowledge information, and widely published in books and technical publications related to the Food Science, Technology and Engineering disciplines and widely know in the Food & Beverage Industries.
While originally developed from Aztec ideas that inhabited Mesoamerica, the chocolate process was initially brought to Europe by the Spaniards, who established the first industrial chocolate facility in the world in Spain. The process and technology remained for almost a Century as tight industrial secret, before the Spain monopoly came to an end. Since the XVI Century chocolate science, technology and engineering has been evolving continuously, receiving contributions from many inventors from various countries, especially from England, France, Holland, and Germany, and more recently from the US, among several other nations.
The chocolate technical evolution had significant improvement in both processing and equipment, particularly from the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, and continuously evolved to reach the today's notable state of quality, precision and volume of the chocolate's modern industrial processing technology.
The classic process for manufacturing of chocolate masses and compounds (i.e. imitation chocolates), as it stands today, has the objective of properly developing and controlling three (3) key variables that impart in the quality and functionality of the end product, as follows:                The taste & flavor (or sensorial properties)        The texture (or rheological properties)        The conditioning of the mass (or its physical and physical chemical properties.        
They all are critically important for the proper mass preparation, presentation, attraction and consumption of the end chocolate or compound products. For instance, both the chocolate and compound masses, made with alternative vegetable fat and cocoa liquor are heavily influenced in their functional properties, by their proper conditioning and their application by both their static and dynamic viscosities (yield value).
Applicant believes that the closest reference corresponds to international application No. PCT/IT99/00014 issued to Danillo Rossi for an alimentary product based on coffee, cocoa, and guarana. This reference includes coffee and cocoa, like in this invention. However, the reference differs from the present invention in failing to disclose the use of a vegetable oil (including cocoa butter) to encapsulate the aroma of the milled roasted ground coffee for preservation. Rossi's disclosure is related to an alimentary product and it does not disclose the method claimed herein.
Other patent applications or patents describing the related subject matter provide for a number of more or less ingredients that fail to address the preservation problem in an efficient and economical way. None of these patents suggest the novel features of the present invention.